Crops rebound after drought-plagued 2016, farmers say

Mike Gleason Daily News Staff @MGleason_MDN

Sunday

Sep 3, 2017 at 12:01 AM

For Erin Defoyd, fall is a great season, with a crispness to the air, cool nights - and great apples.

Defoyd took advantage of Friday's clear weather to take her family - husband Wes and children Ella, Jane and Bennett - to Millis' Tangerini Farm to take part in that classic fall activity: apple picking.

"It's a perfect fall day," she said.

Fortunately for them, local farmers said this season is shaping up to be a good one, especially after last year was marred by a record drought. The summer - a considerably cooler and wetter season - has proven much more conducive to growing.

Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources Commissioner John Lebeaux said farmers statewide were reaping the benefits of the weather.

“We’re in the peak of the harvest now, and we’re looking forward to a great late summer, early fall harvest,” he said. “Apples are a huge crop for Massachusetts, and forecasts for New England have the crop up by as much as 38 percent, and the Massachusetts crop up by 50 percent.”

That's not to say everything was ideal. Lebeaux said the cool and wet conditions posed their own challenges, as many farmers were delayed in getting to their fields this spring. Indeed, he said, last year's heat might have been beneficial, for those farms with water available.

Still, Lebeaux said, the size of this year's crop showed how positive the season has been for farmers.

“Fruit is sizing up much bigger, because so much of fruit is water,” he said.

Charlie Koshivas, owner of Fairmount Farms in Franklin, said that was a trend he had seen reflected locally. He said, although the drought did not keep people away last year, it had a definite effect on his crops.

“We had a good turnout, but the apples were kinda small because of the lack of rain,” he said. “I don’t think that will be a problem this year.”

He said some weather conditions - like high winds - could still pose an issue, but things were looking good for the start of his farm's apple-picking season, on Sept. 9.

Marianne Kelly, a manager at Belkin Family Lookout Farm in Natick, said this year’s harvest was shaping up to be much better than last year’s – featuring, for example, “boatloads” of peaches.

“Last year, we lost the entire crop,” she said. “This year, we still have peaches on the trees, and we’re still picking them.”

Kelly said, as peach season precedes apple season, having those crops available was important to keeping up business through the summer months. Last year's peach dearth was not, ironically, caused by the drought but a cold winter, officials said.

Linda Chiarizio, a manager at Tangerini's, said her farm, too, had seen a great season.

"It's been leaps and bounds better - we've had much lower crop loss," she said. "Hopefully, we don't get an early frost."

The growing season has been for more than apples, of course. Lebeaux said farmers across the state were continuing to harvest tomatoes and corn as well.

Tom Hanson, of Hanson's Farm in Framingham, said last year had posed problems for corn - his corn maze, for example, had to be planted twice to keep its walls thick.

"Our corn maze is taller and better this year," he said. "This year, it's been terrific."

Hanson said he hoped the conditions continued, as his farm offers pumpkin-picking starting in mid-September.

Those picking apples said they were very happy to see a favored fruit so abundant - especially as it signals the start of fall. Tricia Hayes and Meredith Ghizzoni, picking apples at Tangerini's Friday, said they were both excited about the season.